Last night was my second ballroom class with my boyfriend, and I have to say, although I was kind of skeptical at first, I’m certainly starting to enjoy it. I don’t have much of a dancing background other than ballet when I was younger so the “rock rock, cha cha cha” was very foreign to me. Normally there is an excess of girls with a shortage of guys in dance classes that require partners but last night’s class was the complete opposite. It’s nice to see the guys come out to learn how to sway those hips. Obviously the first lesson was very repetitive trying to get the very core basics down but last night the instructor, Peter Djakovic, decided to play some salsa music to a short combination we just learned… and it all makes sense.

I love how Peter teaches us spotting to make simple steps look sharp and good!

My boyfriend and I have definitely decided together that we would want to continue this further. (Student discounted prices gave us more of an incentive to do it right on campus. Plus I just study at Trinity, Gerstein, Laidlaw and walk right over!) I know that the U of T’s Athletic Centre also offers a Ballroom I class but they only offer one class at an inconvenient time. The class that we are taking is at Hart House and three Ballroom I classes are offered which are taught by three different instructors. If you’re a U of T student and interested in Ballroom, I highly recommend you sign up before the end of this week! The cost is definitely cheaper if you’re a student so make use of that Tcard but registration is still open to public!

A short documentary of the man behind The Sartorialist, a photographer whom I incredibly admire for his works. I wonder if Scott will ever make his way to Toronto. I’d be thrilled to just even see him on our streets.

The training so far that we’ve received has been, as what all my other fellow navigators are saying, amazing. We have different teams on both side, from the U of T Public Health and ELLICSR, teaching and supporting us in so many ways. But there is one thing that I find sometimes we, including myself, rely on so much that it in itself becomes a trap. Formulas.

Here are 5 easy steps to living better.

10 studying habits that will make your grades soar.

Stages to follow in breaking bad news.

There always seems to be a formula for everything. I’m not saying that all formulas should be abolished because I recognize there is need for them to help take the right approach. What I’m trying to get at is the fact that, we are bombarded with these books and books of formulas but it becomes problematic when we fully depend on them. In our training, we are given various formulas to learn how to interact with the people we will meet in difficult settings. In school, formulas to do well to get the grades you want. In life, just go to chapters and look at the vast amount of self-help books.

Atul Gawande’s new book “The Checklist Manifesto” talks about the human fallibility and how a simple checklist implemented not only in the operating room but in various health care settings have dramatically improved mortality rates. It sounds simple but no one wanted to use it. He brings in the example of construction buildings, the complexity of it, and the unimaginable coordination needed during all of it. How? Checklists. But there are teams that come together to communicate the problems and consult each other during mishaps especially drastic ones. It’s not unnatural when things go astray and that formula or checklist that you had doesn’t cover it at all.

What am I really trying to say? When we begin to follow strictly to these formulas/checklists especially when communicating with, such as patients, it is very apparent. With that, you also start losing that personal connection with the person you are talking to. Like others have emphasized, they are guidelines, not simply the “If/then” command. We know that, but we often forget. I just want to remind others, but most importantly myself, there aren’t formulas to everything and that’s part of the beauty and spontaneity of life.

(This was also a post I made for the Youth4Health website which you can check out here.)

What if we all had a soundtrack? What if we did stroll down the sidewalk like Peter Griffin, or like Raj Koothrappali’s t-shirt? Epic wins would be all that more epic, and contemplation would just be jeopardy. But if we all had that, think of all the interference. We’d all be in our own movies, too hard to follow, just too much noise. There’s enough city noise as it is. Sometimes I really doubt whether I’m a city person or not.